Two roads in Lamar County now have set speed limits, as the Lamar County Board of Supervisors recently voted to institute a 25-mile-per-hour limit on Raymond Rawls Road in District 4 and Graham Road in District 5.
District 4 Supervisor Phillip Carlisle said Raymond Rawls Road – which runs between Mississippi 589 and Ralph Rawls Road - and Graham Road, off U.S. 98 near Mack’s West, did not previously have established speed limits.
“We usually go with 25 if it’s an area like that, where you’ve got residents on both sides of the road,” he said. “And there’s (a lot of) kids, so 25 is sort of standard.”
Lamar County Administrator Jody Waits said the board sometimes receives requests from residents or supervisors to change speed limits in different areas.
“Sometimes they ask to reduce them just because of safety,” he said. “So overall, it was done because of safety.”
In another road-related issue, supervisors will soon hold a public hearing regarding a petition to close JC Purvis Lane, which runs off Deavers Road in Purvis. During the hearing, which is scheduled for 10 a.m. Dec. 3 at the William J. Gamble Chancery Courthouse in Purvis, residents with interest in the matter will be allowed to give their input or concerns.
“Citizens petitioned to close off a portion of the road, and so anybody affected by that could come forward, and the board will make a decision whether or not to close it,” Waits said. “Typically, that’s done when the county may have owned the road right-of-way and it extends beyond what’s normally used because of (possible) future use.
“Or it could be that (the road) just isn’t used, or extends through only one person’s property, and that person would just as soon have us abandon it and close it. We’re not closing a major public road or anything like that – usually (in these types of matters), the road goes out in the country or goes through some farmland. Usually only one person owns land around it, and that’s typically what it’s about whenever people ask for that.”
